Just simply focus
by little purple butterflies
Summary: Reid tried to keep his mind on the case. But not being able to reach Hotch brought back memories. Spoilers for "Nameless, Faceless"


****_All characters are property of CBS, Jeff Davis, Edward Allen Bernero and sadly not mine. I just take them along for the ride. This **is a deeper look into a scene so I took the dialog from the episode. I also added a moment or two to the existing scenes, not sure if that qualifies for it to be a missing scene though. So if you read something you don't recognize from the episode, it's from my mind.**  
Special thanks to my dear friend Sarah (1983Sarah) for all her help and encouragement and being a great beta. Thanks to everyone who read and/or reviewed one of my others stories._****

" _Fear is your best friend or your worst enemy. It's like fire. If you can control it, it can cook for you; it can heat your house. If you can't control it, it will burn everything around you and destroy you." American boxer Mike Tyson_

"I'm sorry, I don't mean to be callous but when you work in the ER you don't remember names. You operate and you move on." Spencer Reid looked up from the notepad he had been busy writing on to Dr. Tom Barton who had just stated the biggest problem of their current task.

The profiler was sitting next to the physician in the man's living room along with Prentiss, who sat in a chair at an angle on the other side of Barton. They were sifting through seemingly endless stacks of patients' files searching for any clue as to who wanted to take revenge on the doctor.

A task that proved to be even more difficult than Spencer had anticipated due to the sheer volume of paper piling up on the coffee table in front of them and the little time they had to prevent another murder, even with three pairs of eyes.

So he wasn't surprised when Emily agreed with Barton. "He's right. There are too many files here for us to profile," she stated, earning a nod from her colleague, "in such a short period of time."

She got up, drawing both the physician's and Reid's attention from the paper stacks onto her. Looking at her wristwatch she continued, "Um, I can get to Hotch's and get back here in half an hour," looking pointedly at her fellow agent when mentioning their colleague's name, the worry behind her casual sounding words was not lost to him.

Before the young profiler could answer Tom glanced from Prentiss to Reid while asking, "Who's that?"

"He's our supervisor," Spencer explained while averting his gaze. "We weren't supposed to work today," he added, looking at the man to his right before lowering his voice and once again turning his focus to an unseen point in the room, "We're having trouble getting a hold of him." A fact that was more present at his mind than it should be, threatening to distract him from the case.

And he couldn't help but be reminded of another time when they couldn't reach a team member.

That time Gideon had left. Because of the murder of his girlfriend Sarah; and because of what turned out to be his last case where not only four college girls had been killed but in the end also the UnSub by a female suicidal student - who wanted him to end her life - and said girl herself.

Six lives had been taken and Reid knew that his mentor had blamed himself for at least three of those deaths that had happened because of the actions he had taken during the investigation. That case had broken what had been left of Jason after Sarah's brutal death.

He had left without saying goodbye, at least in person. And even though Hotch's situation wasn't the same as Gideon's had been, there were some significant similarities.

Aaron, too, had lost his loved one because of the job when she had filed for divorce over a year ago, with the addition of not being able to see his son that often anymore.

And their last case that had ended just a couple of hours ago could definitely be considered being just as bad as Gideon's final one, if not worse.

89 people had been murdered after being subjected to horrific scientific tests by a handicapped man that had been used by his quadriplegic older brother, just because the latter wanted to find a way to cure himself. And the brother of one of the victims was going to prison for shooting the paralyzed man out of revenge for his sister's murder while the second UnSub, probably not even being fully aware of what he had done under of the influence of his guardian, had been killed when the local cops along with Morgan and Hotch had found and freed the young woman he had abducted. This case had affected every member of the team.

So Reid was as worried now as he had been two years ago.

This time though he was sure that he wasn't the only one. Evidently Prentiss had decided to check on their superior instead of waiting for him to return their calls, using the fact that they indeed needed help with their current task.

She proved this by stating, "But we need more eyes," before she turned around while eyeing her wristwatch again and left.

Barton didn't give Spencer time to dwell on that subject longer though as he turned his gaze to the UnSub's letter lying on the table in between the piles. "The note doesn't say that he'll kill Jeffrey today. It says, 'If not today, tomorrow or the next day'."

Having drawn Reid's attention toward himself he added, "Let's say he gets home safe," Tom stared the agent right in the eye now, "How long will you all be around to make sure he's okay?"

The younger man broke eye contact by lowering his gaze as the possible scenarios ran through his mind and looking up again he decided to give the most diplomatic answer he could come up with. "Let's just get through today."

Feeling Barton's glance still on him Reid went back to the file in his hands and cleared his throat nervously.

He knew this wasn't the answer the worried man had been looking for but it was all that he could give at the moment. Because there would be a person dead by the end of the day, either his son Jeffrey or another innocent man or woman. And that wasn't something he wanted to have to tell Barton. All they could do 'till then was to keep trying to find anything that helped them identify the UnSub.

A few more moments the physician kept looking at Reid before he glanced at the large pile in front of himself and picked up the file on top. The men worked in silence, for which the profiler was grateful. Spencer hoped that Emily would return soon, they needed the help and he wasn't sure if he could handle this agitated man on his own for long.

When the agent had finished his stack he reached over the table to grab his colleague's files and started with the first one. Next to him Barton watched him scanning the information in his usual rapid pace.

After a moment he asked disbelievingly, "You really read that fast?"

"Yes, I do," the young man simply replied.

It wasn't the first time he'd been asked something like this and he had discovered that just answering in the affirmative was easier and faster than trying to explain it. The physician seemed to be satisfied with it even though it took another second before he shifted his attention from the profiler to his own file again.

Reid took a quick glance at his wristwatch, trying to be covert as to not upset Barton whom he noticed doing the same every now and again, just much more openly. But then the doctor had no reason to hide his increasing concern.

So it wasn't much of a surprise for Spencer when the other man eventually got up from the couch, probably too restless to sit down anymore, and, with a file still in his hand, moving over to stand in front of the chair Prentiss had been sitting in earlier before leaning forward to write down something on the notepad on the coffee table.

Just then the profiler's cell phone rang and he pulled it out of his black vest's left pocket immediately. Seeing Emily's name as the caller ID he answered, "Hey."

"Something happened to Hotch," his fellow agent told him.

For a moment his previously racing mind was blank in shock, and then he forced out, "What?"

"There's blood here but no sign of him," Prentiss replied.

"W-w-what are you talking about?" The young man couldn't concentrate on her answer because Barton whom Spencer hadn't noticed staring at him alarmingly now asked, "Is this about Jeffrey?"

Reid turned around to the other man briefly and, waving his hand dismissively at him, he quickly replied, "No, no, it's-it's unrelated." With this he turned away from the man in a futile attempt at a little privacy.

That didn't keep the physician from addressing him again though. "We only have a few hours left here," the kid's father reminded him unnecessarily.

Spencer didn't really want to deal with Barton right now, not after what his colleague had just told him, but in order to continue talking with her he had to do this very thing. So the long-haired agent looked at the other man and even though his voice was still low there now was urgency in it when he said, "I'm really sorry. I have to take this phone call, okay?"

The profiler sympathized with Barton, he really did, and he knew that is was important that they'd get through the files as fast as possible, but right now his mind was occupied with fear for their superior and he wanted to know, needed to know, what Prentiss could tell him about Hotch's disappearance.

Apparently it wasn't all right for the other man since he asked more than a bit agitated, "What could be more important than my son right now?"

Whatever the doctor might have added was cut short when Spencer interrupted, now in a raised voice as well, "I assure you this will only take one second. Please, I promise."

He didn't care that he was practically pleading and to his relief Barton gave up, simply throwing the file on the table and turning around before leaving the room with an exasperated, "Fine."

Reid's gaze followed him for a moment, and then staring ahead he concentrated on his teammate's voice at the other end. "There's a huge hole in the wall. Uh, probably a .44, but there's no blood or tissue spray around it."

"Any idea how he got out?" Spencer asked.

What Emily said wasn't any good to calm his rising fear. "If he was shot, there are no drag marks. But a body could have been wrapped in something." He didn't know if it was just him but she sounded as helpless as he felt in this situation.

Trying to regain some professionalism the young man wanted to know, "Bureau techs are on the way?"

"Any second," came the reply.

"All right," he said and sighing he instructed her, "Um, write down everything you can and we'll profile from your notes when you get back." _If the doctor would give them a chance to do that_ , he added silently.

"How's Barton?" Emily asked now.

Briefly turning his gaze toward the doorway to his right leading to a corridor where said person was pacing back and forth Spencer raised his eyebrows unconsciously as he replied in a lowered voice, "It's a _huge_ list of cases to go through."

He knew he didn't have to explain any further; they had worked enough cases like this for her to picture how the intended target of the UnSub was holding up. And of course she would know that Reid would be distracted after hearing the unsettling news, proven by what she told him now. "Okay, don't worry about here, I've got this. Just stay focused."

That was easier said than done and just as hard now as it was when Hotch told him that those two years ago after Gideon hadn't shown up to their chess game and hadn't answered his calls.

But the young agent trusted her to handle it on her own, so he said, "All right. You, too." Spencer ended the call and sighed silently.

Now he knew what happened, and yet he didn't. He knew that Hotch hadn't just quit, hadn't just broken like Gideon. It didn't make him feel relieved at the moment though, not even a little.

He had already lost Jason who hadn't only been a mentor to him but also a surrogate father. After he had gone away, Hotch had slowly but steadily tried to fill the void the older profiler had left and Reid wasn't sure he could cope with another important person of his life leaving, one way or the other.

So it wasn't any easier now that he was aware something bad had to have happened to the team's leader. Spencer just couldn't keep from wondering what exactly went down in the apartment and if Aaron was still alive.

Taking a moment to clear his head as best as he was able to, he put his cell phone back into the left pocket of his vest and while turning back toward the door he called, "Dr. Barton?" The physician appeared in the doorway a second later and entered the room.

Spencer briefly considered informing the distraught father of what Emily had told him to explain her not coming back to help them but refrained from doing so since the edgy man wasn't in a condition to accept it anyway. So he went for a more general description of the events. "I'm sorry about that. Agent Prentiss had been called away on an emergency."

As expected that didn't go over well with Barton, "You gotta be kidding me!"

The profiler tried to stay calm because he getting agitated now as well was not helpful under the circumstances. So he put as much assurance as he could muster in his voice that he couldn't keep from raising in volume a tad when he stated, "I'm confident that the two of us can do this together, right now." Not giving the other man a chance to argue he continued in his usual fast-paced manner, "All right. We-we know he's been killing Hispanic males as surrogates. Did you separate the case files?"

It was evident that the other man didn't like it but given the little time they had, as he had pointed out more than once, he seemed to swallow any further protest and his anger. "Yeah."

Reid was relieved at that. He knew he couldn't do anything for Hotch but he at least could keep both Barton and his son safe and prevent another innocent person getting killed because of the UnSub's sadistic way of revenge.

And for that, as much as he was struggling to do so, he had to focus, just simply focus on the case.

" _No passion so effectively robs the mind of all its powers of acting and reasoning as fear." Irish author and philosopher Edmund Burke_


End file.
